The Sumter Cypress Trail begins near the golf course in Sumter's Dillon Park. The trail is unmarked but is mostly level and follows a dirt road and grassy path through the woods and open fields. You will also wind along a creek and the ponds at Cypress Park. The park has benches and picnic tables.
Watch for birds, snakes, turtles and a variety of other wildlife; flora includes wildflowers and berry shrubs. Be careful at road crossings, which are many along this trail.
From Broad Street (Business 76) in Sumter, drive north on Wise Drive. Dillon Park is on the right. From the parking area, walk toward the golf course and follow the fence to the left until you reach the trail sign at the dirt road entrance.
Never ran this before. It hasn’t rained in a week or so. The trail was maintained and looks great! 6.2 mile complete
We rode from Dillon Park to Cypress Park. Signage is mediocre at best and it was easy to miss turns. Cypress Park signage is non-existent and we gave up and turned around. Do not ride with street bike tires, balloon or fatter, with low pressure, needed for the sand and roots. Approach from Dillon Park has one VERY narrow spot in middle of trail with DEEP washouts on both sides. Rest of trail between parks seemed OK but challenging. Other reviews mentioned mud ... we saw some in Cypress Park just as we turned around, more ahead was what made up our mind.
I've gone on this trail with my dogs multiple times a week for years. I normally park at Cypress Park, one of the areas the trail crosses the road. Some days I do a mile or two, other days the full loop.
There is a section I almost always have to wade through, but I wear waterproof boots and my dogs enjoy splashing through it. There are several road crossings and a detour by a factory.
While there are more scenic, remote trails in South Carolina, this has the advantage of being in town, a 5 minute drive from my house. Being accessible, even after a busy work day, is why I still rate it at 5 stars.
For the most part, this was a nice, easy 6-mile ride through woods, trails and fire breaks. I found it was marked decent and fairly easy to follow. However, there was one portion where I had to cross a few hundreds meters of 1/2 foot deep swamp over the trail. I made it but fully muddy below the knees. That part is not for the faint-hearted. There is also a spot where the trail is closed on the east side due to construction at Becton Dickinson; that part was pretty easy to detour around about 200 meters East. Overall, I enjoyed most of it except for the swamp part, and I don’t think I’ll submit myself to that part again. Good luck!
Rode my bike along the Cypress trial. It is well maintained. I only rode from Dillion park to Cypress park. I find the ride quite enjoyable. I ride with my husband and our dogs ride in their doggy trailer. We get to take a pit stop at the Bark park for our fur babies. Only issue is the beginning of the trial is not marked by the green official trial sign. The trial sign is on the opposite side that ends at Wise Dr
The Sumter Cypress Trail is a neat, simple trail. There was one pet where I had to remove my shoes to wade through some water, but the rest of the trail was fine. Be sure to pay close attention for trail signs. It is easy to get off the path due to many "paeudo" trails .
Road the trail today with my wife. Nice ride, but trail is not well kept and is poorly marked. It is hard to follow and we lost the trail several times. Some sections extremely muddy ¿¿ I liked it, my wife not so much.
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